Musarrat Shaheen joins struggle for F Block

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 8 March 2013

Musarrat Shaheen joined the hunger strike of Lahore Press Club members protesting lack of plot allotments. Her presence uplifted the mood and attracted media attention.

Summary

LAHORE: The tense mood prevailing at the hunger strike camp of F Block affectees turned pleasant with the arrival of the ageless and ever-young Pashtu films’ star-turned-politician Musarrat Shaheen in the wee hours of Thursday.

It was the fourth day of the hunger strike being observed by some disgruntled members of Lahore Press Club (LPC) for not being allotted plots in a journalists housing society in Harbanspura.

Musarrat was returning from a TV channel’s office after attending a talk show when some cultural reporters called her and requested her to join them at the camp.

She stayed there for a good two-and-a-half hours and expressed solidarity with the protesters. She also vowed to raise the issue at the relevant fora and extend moral support to the supporters on a continual basis.

The news of her presence at the camp spread like jungle fire and crews of several TV channels reached the venue within no to time. She recorded her statement which was aired repeatedly by TV channels along with those of the protesting Lahore Press Club members.

Sher Azfal Butt, a protesting member, told JournalismPakistan.com that Musarrat entertained them during the full length of her stay by sharing interesting anecdotes and jokes, many of which centered on her rival in politics, Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Her visit had a dynamo affect which prompted parliamentarians from opposition party in the province, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and its office-bearers to visit the camp later in the day. The protesting members told JournalismPakistan.com that not even a single member from the ruling party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had bothered to visit them.

Senior journalists Ijaz Hafeez Khan, Azam Choudhry, Shakeel Ahmed, Kashir Butt, Khawaja Awais Riaz, Shoaib Chachu, Nasir Naqvi, Afzal Talib and others also visited the camp and stayed there for hours.

KEY POINTS:

• Musarrat Shaheen joined F Block hunger strike on Thursday morning.
• She stayed for two-and-a-half hours, sharing anecdotes with protesters.
• TV channels covered her visit extensively, highlighting the protests.
• Opposition party members visited the camp after her arrival.
• No representatives from the ruling party visited the protesters.